Critical Analysis of the current state of research on the topic of business succession

Abstract

In the next few years, many companies in the field of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Germany are about to change the generation of entrepreneurs. This article deals with the reasons and strategies for regulated succession of entrepreneurs in these SMEs. The following research question is at the heart of the present study: 'What are the reasons and strategies for finding a business successor considering the company analysis for small and medium-sized enterprises in Germany?'. Within the scope of an extensive literature analysis, the current state of research on the topic of business succession is analysed by a qualitative content analysis according to Mayring and the most important reasons and strategies are identified. For this purpose, 4 main codes and 14 subcodes were defined inductively and deductively, and the present literature was encoded according to the method of structured content analysis. 673 codings were carried out and then analysed in the context of the research questions.The main reasons and strategies were identified, and the research question was fully answered. In addition to answering the central research question, the article also makes recommendations for the planning and complete implementation of a regulated business succession within the framework of the article conclusion. This article is the author's second article on the topic of Business Succession and is complementary to the author's first article.